This is an attempt to apply metamagic reduction without getting broken. Thus the reducers generally have a greater negative effect than a similar positive metamagic feat, to make min-maxing tricks harder. Plus I like the idea of players finding ways to trick out their metamagic spells while struggling to work around glaring weaknesses.

Each of these allow 1 spell level of metamagic without increasing the spell's level. They will not reduce a spells level below its original level. The same feat may be applied multiple times provided that the adjusted spell still qualifies before applying the feat an additional time. If a metamagic feat counteracts one of these feats, apply the metamagic first. For example a shorter persistent spell lasts 1 minute per caster level. A weakened maximized spell deals half maximum damage.

Shorter Spell
A shorter spell has a duration 2 steps below normal. The steps are durations measured in rounds, minutes, tens of minutes, hours, days and weeks. For spells with unusual durations, round down to the nearest step. For spells with durations independent of caster level, the minimums to be part of a step are 2 rounds, 2 minutes, twenty minutes, etc.

Shorter spell may not be applied to a spell with a duration measured in less than tens of minutes.

Closer Spell
A closer spell has a range 2 steps below normal. The steps are touch, close, medium and long. For spells with unusual ranges, round down. For spells with fixed ranges, the minimums are touch, 50 feet, 200 feet and 800 feet. Note that any spell area outside of a spell's range is wasted.

Closer spell may not be applied to a spell with a range less than medium (or the equivalent).

Narrow Spell
A narrow spell's area has all its linear dimensions cut in half, resulting in 1/4th the area or 1/8th the volume.

Narrow spell may not be applied to a spell with 2 or more dimensions less than 10 feet. A 3rd dimension below 10 feet is ok.

Slow Spell
A slow spell has its casting time increased one step, where the steps are swift/immediate, standard action to 1 round, 1 minute, 1 hour and 1 day (round up anything in between, this feat changes swift/immediate to standard). Verbal and somatic components continue the entire time. Combining this feat with extend spell on buff spells is popular, but casting large numbers of them is not always feasible.

Slow spell may not be applied to a spell with a casting time greater than 1 hour.

Weaken Spell
All variable numeric effects of the spell are reduced to one half their result, rounded down. Other spell variables including variable costs or even backlash are not affected. The DM has the final say on what an effect is. Weaken spell may not be applied to a spell without variable numeric effects. Weaken spell may not be applied to the same spell multiple times.

Blind Spell
All targets gain total concealment against a blind spell. Concealment doesn't stack, so this feat may be useful against displacement or invisibility. However you still must select the correct square to target such a foe. This feat may not be applied to a spell that doesn't involve a ranged or melee touch. It may be applied to cure spells even if the target does not attempt to avoid the touch, in which case only the miss chance for concealment is rolled. A melee touch spell that misses may be held as normal. Blind spell may not be applied to the same spell multiple times.

Unchain Spell
Instead of affecting multiple targets, the spell affects only one target. Unchain applies only to spells that affect multiple individual targets, not area spells.

Storm Spell
A storm spell deals equal parts fire, cold, electricity, negative energy and physical damage, 1/5th to each rounded down. Physical damage is subject to damage reduction. Storm spell may even be an advantage against foes with energy immunity or foes with no resistances, but generally it makes spells easier to resist.

Storm spell may only be applied to spells that deal energy damage (including negative or positive energy) as part of its effect. Storm spell may not be applied to the same spell multiple times.
Metagame note: This may seem like one of the easiest feats to work around and sometimes even a boon, but any feat that can't be applied multiple times is weaker and it did cost you a feat for that -1 level.

Cursed Spell
A cursed spell causes the caster to suffer the effects of a random bestow curse spell (no save). The DM rolls randomly among the default curses, or he may add curses of his own to the list. If the player is already under the effect of a particular curse, roll again. If for some reason a curse fails to affect the caster, this also causes the spell to fail.

Cursed spell may not be applied more than 4 times to the same spell. Curses are removed normally, one at a time. A wand of remove curse is a common investment for those using this feat.

Expensive Spell
An expensive spell uses extra exotic material components costing spell level x caster level x 10 gp. The precise nature of the material is determined by the DM. Availability of these components may depend on the wealth of a town. Finding a component worth more than 500 gp may be difficult in a typical medium to large city. Smaller towns may be poorer and capital cities or large metropolises may have greater limits, at the DM's discretion. Or these components might be hunted down after some effort regardless of civilization, again at the DM's discretion.

Use the spell's base level, before metamagic adjustment to determine costs. If this feat is applied multiple times the cost is the same each time.

Sickly Summon
All creatures summoned by a sickly summon have a stackable -4 penalty to strength, constitution and dexterity. Ability scores may be reduced to 0, possibly causing paralysis. Summoned creatures do not actually die and abilities that activate upon their death are not activated. At 0 constitution a summon fails (but not constitution -).

Sickly summon may only be applied to spells that summon one or more creatures. If a sickly summon would reduce all physical ability scores that the creature has to 0, the spell fails.

Limb Spell
A limb spell occupies one or more of your limbs which becomes nonfunctional until the spell is cast and completes its duration. Your options are leg (x2), arm (x2) and eye (x2). Some casters may have more or less limbs, and non-functional limbs do not count. Functioning with one leg requires some kind of crutch, causes a -4 penalty to dexterity and reduces movement speed to one half, besides the obvious disadvantages. Having one functioning eye causes a -2 penalty to spot checks, and may cause additional penalties on checks that rely on depth perception.

If this feat is applied multiple times to the same spell then it occupies multiple limbs. Restoring the affected limb by any means causes the spell to discharge harmlessly. If the spell was already cast but is still ongoing then restoring the limb ends the spell. The spell still occupies a spell slot as normal. Spontaneous casters must decide on their limb spells whenever they regain their spells; it may not be applied at casting time like other metamagic feats. Nor do feats that do so apply, such as sudden flawed spell (below). Spontaneous casters may use or re-use limbs at a later time given 15 minutes to assign each spell to the limb(s). Prepared casters use the usual rules for preparing spells later in the day.

Cacaphonous Spell
A cacaphonous spell makes loud noises and flashing lights when it is cast. Besides the obvious it gives a -20 to the DC on listen and spot checks to notice the spell and makes hiding or silent movement impossible. If a cacaphonous spell is magically silenced or concealed the spell fails, however silence effects and concealment away from the caster and target do not cause the spell to fail.

Cacaphonous spell may not be applied multiple times to the same spell.

Dejavu Spell
A dejavu spell occupies an additional spell slot and must be cast a second time upon the same target the following round using that spell slot (and using an action as normal). All options selected on the spell are also the same. Area spells are usually targetted at points in space not creatures, and so a creature might move out of the area. If a targeted creature moves out of range and you do not follow close enough or the spell otherwise becomes invalid the spell fails. If the caster does not wish to cast the spell again, he may not cast any spells that round and the second spell slot is expended with no effect.

If this feat is applied more than once to a spell, it occupies yet another spell slot and must be cast yet another time. This feat is popular for healing spells among casters who are cynical about be relegated to healing duty.

Sudden Flawed Spell
You may apply any of the above feats to a spell without advanced preparation 5 times per day, which may be on 5 different spells or multiple times on the same spell. A spontaneous caster's casting time is not increased from applying metamagic, provided that the adjusted level of the spell is no higher than its orginal level and no effect outside of spontaneous casting is increasing the casting time (such as slow spell).

You may take this feat multiple times and gain an additional 5 uses each time.

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Comments or your own negative metamagic feats are welcome.

Crestfallen

2014-01-11, 05:59 PM

I Really like the concept. I love metamagic, and personally hate cheese to reduce metamagic.

One of the things I don't like is that you can't use this to just reduce a spell level, to get more uses of a favored spell of a weaker version. I know it'd break the game but some of these you'd be okay with just reducing the level.

Unchain Spell for example. The ability to have a singular haste may prove useful in some situations, be it party separation and all of that whatnot. Bard gets split off from the party, doesn't have to waste haste on just him.

But all in all, most of these seem generally fair, minus the ability to use heavy metamagic on 9th level spells. I'm sure a lot of persist cheese would enter the game.

Id make some that knock it down a couple of pegs. You could honestly just reverse a lot of metamagics.

ericgrau

2014-01-11, 08:46 PM

The DM could allow some spells' level to be lowered. The only issue there is it's hard to apply a general rule so you need DM discretion on each one. There are ways to fuel persist with low to moderate drawbacks but it takes 3-4 of these feats plus the persist feats I think. I edited limb spell to make it harder to abuse with all day buffs in general, including persist.

I reversed as many metamagics as I could think of so if you have your own ideas then feel free to post them.